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Parents: What is your disaster plan? FREE WORKSHEET FOR PARENTS.

April 23, 2015 by Chris Parker Leave a Comment

HurricaneEvacRoute

When the power goes out at home what do you do? What about a tornado headed your way? How do you clean up a flooded basement? For many of us that have faced such disasters, we understand how important it is to have a disaster plan. How you deal with disaster in the moment and the days to follow will determine survival and surely how you will address disaster in the future.

Serious question, “What do you do when disaster strikes at home?”

Your child lets out a horrific scream, so you hurry into the kitchen to see what has happened. You find they have cut their hand very badly while trying to open one of those impossible plastic boxes that contains their favorite toy inside. The cut is deep and there is blood everywhere. How do you react? What do you do? In shock, you turn and run full speed out the front door, slamming the door in your kids face, get in the car and drive away from home… without your child. Wait. No! That’s ridiculous and bad parenting. Parents would never respond to a situation like this, unfortunately many do when other types of disaster hit the home…and I have heard too many stories to count.

You and your spouse discover one of the following things about your teenager:

  • You find a picture of them on social media drinking at a party.
  • You see a text message on your son’s phone from their girlfriend, “I’m pregnant“
  • You found evidence of illegal drugs in the house.
  • You discovered they are looking at pornography.
  • Your child recently ____________________.

Teenagers do stupid things but the same can be true about parents… be honest parents you aren’t perfect either. Perhaps reacting to a flesh wound comes second nature to you or your spouse, but how about when you react to your child’s rebellious choices? How you respond and react to these disasters will highly impact your relationship with them, both now and in the future.

Do you and your spouse have a disaster plan for the family?

Here is a free downloadable/printable worksheet that include some questions and conversation starters parents should consider as they build and evaluate the family disaster plan.

 

Filed Under: Student Ministry Tagged With: children, disaster plan, parenting, parents

They are graduating from church…

June 5, 2012 by Chris Parker Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year when the youth pastor gets invited to all those graduation parties! There is usually great food, music in the air, an embarrassing slide show that may involve naked baby photos, and of course the anxious graduate who is ready to rip through all the cards to see how much money they got…I was no different. Though each party may have its own flavor one thing stays the same, the sigh of relief on the parents face, the look that says, “I can’t believe they made it…I can’t believe I made it!”

I’m sure as a parent, a youth pastor or small group leader you have found those graduation parties quite the celebration and milestone in your students life. They did it! They completed their homework assignments (almost all of them), they made some good friends, they learned how to prepare for college by writing essays and learning word processing systems and now they are ready to be sent off into the world…or are they?

While reading a book about why young people leave the church (specifically those graduating seniors) I came across a staggering statement…

“Teenagers are some of the most religiously active Americans.

 American twenty-somethings are the least religiously active.”

According to the polls and interviews we as the church can easily observe that this IS the reality of  church attendance and participation. Birth through high school we see active participation and attendance…it actually increases as the student approaches high school. Suddenly as if overnight, there is a nose dive in church participation, we have lost those graduates…but WHY?!

I could write all day on this subject and even present many topics that we could dissect and explore WHY older teenagers and early twenty-somethings are leaving the church…getting a driver’s license, exploring job opportunities, going “off” to college, but aren’t there churches near the college too?  It seems that many not only graduate from high school never looking back but also graduate their faith! What I’m getting at is this, we the church and parents hold their hand birth-12th…walking them to their age specific rooms, ensuring that they get on the right missions trip, help pay for the perfect Christian camp, and even recruit leaders to walk alongside them every year in a small group setting. What happens next after graduation is eye-opening…nothing. Nothing happens. Where did my small group leader go? What happened to my age specific class or community? Where do I sign up for a serving opportunity or even a small group now that I’m an adult?

We must combat the dropout rate by sending out missionaries…equipping our graduates for life on their mission field wherever God places them.

I’ll be the first to confess that my church doesn’t do the greatest job in transitioning our graduates into the greater body of the church. We are aware of this problem and are searching for ways to combat the nose dive. Here are a few ideas we have moving forward…I would love to hear what others are doing!

  • Provide a specific curriculum for all graduating seniors to go through their spring semester
  • Find ways for small group leaders stay connected to their students throughout the college years
  • Put “college ministry” under the student ministry umbrella to ensure responsibility is being taken on by a ministry within the church
  • Provide a one year stent program that would allow those graduates not going to college to participate in ministry both locally and globally

The book that dives more into this discussion can be found in my library, “You Lost Me.”

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: adult ministry, college, college ministry, dropout, education, graduate, Missionary, parenting, senior pastor, Youth Ministry, youth pastor

Facebook for kids…really?!

June 4, 2012 by Chris Parker Leave a Comment

Do you have a Facebook account? I remember when I was in high school I had to borrow a college friend’s email address to make a profile for myself… well folks, the children have caught on to the same scheme. The kids of today are doing similar things and want to be at the life of the party, the little blue “f” symbol has piqued their curiosity. I was reading USA Today this morning…

USA TODAY NEW YORK (AP) — Though Facebook bans children under 13, millions of them have profiles on the site by lying about their age.

Now, the company is testing out ways to allow younger kids on its site without needing to lie. It would be under parental supervision, such as by connecting children’s accounts to their parents’ accounts. That would allow Facebook to comply with federal regulations regarding children under 13 online.

The Wall Street Journal reported on the development in Monday’s editions. It could be a long way off, or never get implemented, as happens with many features that Facebook tests.

In a statement, Facebook says it is in ongoing dialogue with stakeholders, regulators and other policymakers about how best to help parents keep their kids safe online.

For all of us that participate in youth ministry – whether it be a parent, youth pastor, small group leader, teacher, etc. I would hope that we pay close attention to what our youth are able to access on the computer, phone, tablet, etc. Though some sites like fb can be seemingly harmless, they too can contain vile ads, inappropriate pictures posted by others and provide “secret” places for private conversations.

How do you as a parent know what your child looks at on the computer? Would love to get some comments on this one, please share!

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I found the USA Today article here.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Childrens Ministry, Computer, Facebook, Kids, Parental Control Settings, parenting, Youth Ministry

Have a destination in mind…

June 1, 2012 by Chris Parker Leave a Comment

lifeofayouthpastor.com is here! This website/blog is really a snapshot of my life (Chris Parker) as a youth pastor, husband, and most importantly one who understands that this life is NOT MY OWN (1Cor.6:19) I have been adopted by God and am experiencing LIFE TO THE FULLEST through His son Jesus Christ. (John 10:10) I hope to provide other youth pastors, leaders, volunteers, parents and students an open door to my life as it revolves around youth ministry, my family and adventures of mine!

Scott Murray, Junior High Pastor at Wheaton Bible Church…very much my partner in crime when it comes to youth ministry is the first to subscribe! Scott is great…he loves Jesus, his family and his youth ministry team. We exchange ideas, experiences in ministry, sermon ideas and vision all the time. I’m excited to do the same with many of you through lifeofayouthpastor.com

Knowing where you are going in ministry is critically important, whether it be a small task or a full blown program. How you get there may have numerous routes or detours, the reality is though that you do have a destination in mind. I would hope that lifeofayouthpastor.com would be a ministry in and of itself to many that subscribe (subscribe by email just by the click of a button on the top right corner of the page!)

So, I do need a destination in mind that I can continually travel toward as I write…my destination when all said and done is to look back at hundreds of postings that would have connected hundreds of people and sparked hundreds of conversations concerning youth ministry, the Bible, the church world, the parenting world, and give you a small peek at who Chris Parker is as a youth pastor.

Enjoy!

…and subscribe 🙂

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: childrensministry, church, parenting, pastor, religion, subscribe, teenagers, wheaton bible church, youth ministry team, youth pastor, youthminsitry

Hey there, my name is Chris. I wake up every morning thinking youth ministry. If you are in the same boat, then I know you will identify with me, because you also live the life of a youth pastor .

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